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The NLEX Road Warriors continued to roll in the PBA Governors’ Cup after blasting the San Miguel Beermen, 110-96, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

NLEX thus remained unscathed in the import-laden conference through four games.

The Road Warriors took a 25-point lead in the contest as head coach Jimmy Alapag played the tormentor for the Beermen, for which he served an assistant coach for a while.

DeQuan Jones waxed hot for the Road Warriors with 27 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Schonny Winston added 24 markers, four boards, four dimes and three steals, while Tony Semerad had 15 points.

‘I think anytime you play a team like San Miguel, with all their championship experience, it’s always a great test for a young team. But I thought we were very resilient, especially in the second half,’ Alapag said.

‘[Don] Trollano is one of the best shooters in the league, and he got going. But I thought our poise in the second half was great for the young team that we have. We were able to get stops and score when we needed to, to get the win,’ he added.

NLEX had a strong start, rushing to a double-digit lead as early as the first quarter as it set the tone the rest of the way.

The lead grew to as much as 25 points, 85-60, in the third quarter after a Robbie Herndon layup.

But San Miguel stormed back and pumped life back into the game, exploding with a 22-5 run capped by a layup by Rodney Brondial to slice the deficit to eight, 82-90, with 9:38 left.

However, it was the nearest they got to, as they could not go over the hump.

The Beermen trailed by eight, 84-92, with 7:31 to go, but huge shots by Jones, Herndon, Semerad and Robert Bolick just prevented the Beermen from getting nearer.

Bolick flirted with a triple-double with 14 markers, 12 dimes and nine boards, while Herndon had 13 points.

George King pulled off another stellar performance for San Miguel with 31 points, eight rebounds and an assist, but he committed nine turnovers. Don Trollano and June Mar Fajardo had 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the 3-1 Beermen.

Tomorrow’s State of the National Address (SONA) by President BBM may yet mark the turning point in his presidency. It may yet be a chance for him to begin to regain the trust of the Filipino people. It provides an opportunity to report the accomplishments of the administration, present the country’s current situation and outline the government’s plans for the coming years.

President BBM should take this opportunity to remind the Filipino people that he was actually the person who started the investigation on the flood control scandals during his SONA last year.

It may be ironic that people not only have forgotten that he was the one who opened the investigation on the flood control’s corruption, but he is actually being blamed for these scandals. He needs therefore to convince the Filipino people that he is serious about putting the major figures in the scandal behind bars. Although there have been some prominent figures already in jail like former senator Bong Revilla, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta and Mike Defensor, the people are still waiting for the so-called ‘big fish’ of the flood control scandal to be put in jail.

This topic of corruption and how he intends to wage this war must be the start of his SONA tomorrow.

I feel, however, that the most important part of his speech must be a plan to reduce poverty and increase employment. The worst thing that he can do is to make the Philippines’ promotion to being an upper-middle income country as the central theme of his speech. Economic growth is meaningless if it does not lead to a reduction of poverty and an increase of employment opportunities for the ordinary Filipino.

The government should have a realistic but ambitious plan to encourage investments in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, renewal energy and information technology. Aside from a plan, the government has yet to unveil any plan on how it will source these investments. Today, foreign investments are still not coming in to the country.

The Filipino upper class is still investing their money abroad by buying real estate in foreign countries and other similar investments, rather than investing domestically. The President needs to have a drastic plan for all these, like imposing wealth tax on investments by Filipinos in foreign countries.

At the same time, the government must have a concrete plan on how to strengthen labor protection to ensure that workers receive a living wage and other adequate benefits.

This government has also only paid lip service to prioritizing agriculture. However, millions of Filipinos continue to depend on farming and fishing for their livelihood. Many farmers continue to face the same challenges such as outdated farming methods, limited access to irrigation, expensive farm inputs and low market prices.

The President should announce specific and credible programs to improve and expand irrigation systems, affordable credit to farmers, crop insurance and better farm-to-market roads.

Every year, this and past governments cite that these are priorities but have never provided any specific budgets and programs for agriculture and fishery.

President BBM should also address the eternal problem of education in the country. Each year, we have the same problem of lack of classrooms, lack of teachers, lack of books and teaching materials. Instead, each year, we have legislators ignorant in education proposing changes in the curriculum and even the number of years of basic schooling. These are topics best left to education experts.

The government has also not outlined a program to encourage the private sector to invest in public school education. Without government incentives, the private sector will invest in education if they can make a profit from it. However, meaningful and quality education cannot be a profit venture alone.

Another priority topic that should be discussed is health care. Poor health has often pushed families deeper into poverty because of expensive medical costs and lost income. There is a crying need to strengthen public hospitals, increase access to primary health care services, expand vaccination and nutrition programs and improve the efficiency and implementation of PhilHealth and other government health care programs. There is a critical need for rural communities to receive additional support towards more health centers, medical professionals and telemedicine services. Perhaps the government can explore programs like requiring new graduates of medicine to spend one or two years of residency in rural health centers.

A fifth topic is social protection. The government should ensure that financial assistance programs reach those who need them most. Conditional cash transfers, food assistance, livelihood grants and disaster relief should be delivered with efficiency and transparency. Strengthening digital payment systems and improving beneficiary data bases can reduce delays, duplication and fraud.

Finally, the President should have a specific program for infrastructure development because this is what stimulates economic activity and creates jobs. Investments in roads, bridges, railways, airports, seaports, water systems, irrigation systems and digital infrastructure can bring development to rural communities, improve public services and attract businesses.

The critical challenge of course is to ensure that this infrastructure is done without any corruption and with utmost transparency.

Above all of these, the President needs to discuss the importance of good governance and fighting corruption. All these may sound overly ambitious but these are what our people desperately need.

Like many commuters in Metro Manila, 28-year-old software engineer and Cavite resident RJ Crusem grew accustomed to waiting at train stations with no idea how long it would be before the train arrives.

Additionally, unexpected glitches in railway operations would cost passengers time for work and other personal activities.

To turn this frustration of waiting into a solution, Crusem developed TrainSight, a public commuting visibility platform that tracks the operations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

It uses multiple source inputs, including user devices and a hardware tracker to be installed on the train sets, he said.

‘I had a thought if it was possible for passengers to know exactly where their trains are or if they are moving. I also drew inspiration from FlightRadar24, which monitors the arrival times of planes,’ Crusem said.

TrainSight aims to provide commuters with better information before entering or waiting at the train stations. It can currently support LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT-3 train lines, with a provision for MRT-7.

Crusem said his team is currently in talks with relevant agencies to support the launch of the application.

‘Our focus right now is to deliver a stable product, gather real user feedback and continue improving the platform after launch,’ he said. Beyond convenience for commuters, Crusem said TrainSight could promote greater transparency and accountability in public transportation. ‘Operators will see the actual movement of their units on the ground. This could help them to respond faster to technical problems,’ he said. Crusem hopes to expand the platform services beyond rail transit by developing tracking capabilities in road-based public transportation, including public utility buses. Trainsight will launch in Google Play Store in August and in Apple Store between September and October this year.

The Department of Education yesterday maintained that the classroom shortage is down to 143,543 after the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) said the country still faces a backlog of more than 166,000 classrooms.

‘As of June 2026, the estimated nationwide classroom backlog stands at 143,543 classrooms, down from 165,443 classrooms at the start of the administration,’ DepEd said in an accomplishment report issued ahead of the State of the Nation Address of President Marcos tomorrow.

‘The classroom backlog is an estimate based on completed classrooms and continues to be refined through ongoing validation of enrolment, school inventory and site conditions,’ the agency explained.

DepEd said that from August to December 2025, at least 1,538 classrooms have been built. It was added with 1,826 more classrooms from January to July this year.

The agency said that for 2026, the Department of Public Works and Highways has at least P21.4 billion for the construction of 6,294 classrooms while local government units have been allocated at least P21.2 billion for the construction of 6,617 classrooms.

Meanwhile, DepEd said 32,916 new teaching positions have been created for 2026 to help address teacher shortages and strengthen the delivery of basic education.

‘The government is procuring lapel microphones for all public school teachers to support classroom instruction and improve teaching delivery. To allow teachers to focus more on teaching, additional positions are being created and deployed,’ DepEd said.

To reduce the need for teachers to perform counseling functions, 10,000 school counselor associates will be hired to provide psychosocial support and learner well-being services.

DepEd also said that at least 11,268 Administrative Officer II position will be opened to take over administrative tasks previously handled by teachers, and 5,000 Project Development Officer positions have been created for the implementation of programs and initiatives, such as the School-Based Feeding Program.

This felt like déjà vu.

Just as it extracted its very first win in the PBA from Titan Ultra back in the Commissioner’s Cup after a long losing start, guest team Macau broke through in the Governors’ Cup at the Giant Risers’ expense.

Heartbroken in their first four games, the Giant Pandas exerted supreme effort to finally end their misery. They were down by as many as 19 points but didn’t lose heart and fought harder and harder to get a 132-126 reward in this competitive duel of cellar dwellers in Group A last night at Ynares Center-Antipolo.

The W brought back memories of their maiden faceoff in the previous conference, where Macau barged into the win column after a woeful 0-7 opening with a 119-107 verdict over Titan.

With this ‘repeat,’ the charges of coach Marcus Elliot matched the Giant Risers’ record at 1-4, bumping off their victims at sixth spot in the seven-team bracket.

‘It definitely feels good and (shows) we’re heading in the right direction,’ said Ramon Cao, who banged in 28 points and 13 rebounds to back up De’Vondre Perry’s game-high 32-22 performance.

Elliot said the Giant Pandas kept the faith despite the early losses, noting how they nearly pulled it off against defending champion TNT in a 103-106 loss and competed for the most part against San Miguel Beer and Converge despite lopsided defeats.

‘Our scores showed we got better and better by each game and we still feel like we’re in a position to win,’ said Elliot.

‘We’re able to piece it together today,’ he added.

It didn’t appear like that early on, though.

The Giant Risers, fresh from their 103-87 upset of the Tropang 5G, came out firing and buried the Giant Pandas to a 30-11 hole.

Titan held a 16-point tear at the break but a lashing from Elliot at the dugout fired up Macau. With a 44-27 salvo in the third, the Giant Pandas wrested the lead, 95-94. Then Cao and comebacking gunner Jenning Leung spearheaded their fourth-quarter closeout, combining for 29 to bring the team to the finish line.

Businessmen want less politics and more economics as President Marcos delivers his penultimate State of the Nation Address tomorrow.

Days before the fifth SONA, business groups released their wish list of legislation that they hope the President will certify as part of his priority agenda. The measures aim to improve the business environment – an area where the country has seen its regional competitiveness progressively slipping.

The President has only a year left before the 2028 election fever threatens to overwhelm most of the activities across the country. The economic reforms are being sought by the business community as the nation grapples with the prolonged Middle East conflict, a weakened peso, the financing challenges posed by the country’s rise to upper-middle income status and a global tariff regime upended by Donald Trump.

Employers have warned that job losses due to AI and machines replacing humans are likely to be speeded up by the ‘highest-ever’ wage hike approved by the populist labor secretary, which took effect over the weekend.

The health care system remains grossly inadequate, exacerbated by political intervention, and the education system is badly in need of fixing. There is a shortage of 166,000 classrooms, and the nation has yet to address the growing problem of bullying and violence among teenage students.

Farmers, now facing the threat of a super El Niño, are still waiting for the long-promised cold chain facilities and other farm support services. Fertilizer prices remain high, affected by the fuel crisis.

Meanwhile, surveys show that people want a progress report on the anti-corruption campaign that President Marcos launched with memorable flair in his SONA last year.

‘Mahiya naman kayo’ – have some shame – would have been the defining statement of his presidency. But this will depend on the results, or at least the progress, of the anti-corruption crackdown.

So far, the campaign has been dragged down by accusations of selective justice and unmet expectations.

While the expectations may have been unreasonably high, this was also due to the initial belief that the campaign would have sufficient teeth from the full backing of the presidency.

Malacañang said the SONA would include ‘a lot of accomplishments.’ Beyond self-praise, the President’s annual report to the nation must provide a clear direction for the next two years.

The nation faces daunting challenges, and time is running out for the President to make a difference.